MrSnappy Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 I've got a weasel problem. It's just one tiny weasel, but it's one big problem! Yesterday morning I tried to beat it to death when I caught it trying to kill my outdoor bunny, but I didn't get it good enough with the stick (quick little bugger). And right after that I discovered it had killed one of my laying hens and stripped her neck and chest bare of flesh (then left her under the hen house to go kill my rabbit, I guess, having tired of chicken?). This morning I found it in the wheel well of my truck. Or more precisely, the WooTWoo found it in the wheel well of my truck. The damn weasel took on those two dogs and my whipjack. Had there been fewer heads in the wheel well fighting to kill it, I think one of them could have dispatched it, but in the confusion it sprang free. It's FAST, but my whipjack is fast too and she almost had it before it skittered under the porch. A friend tells me they sometimes chew up the wires in vehicles, which I don't like the sound of at ALL. Last night I caught all the hens at dusk and locked them away in their hen house, and I crated the bunny in her pen so no weasel deaths last night. However, this kind of management seems like a PITA long term; besides, I am going out of town for 4 days later this week and can hardly ask my landlord to catch my chickens and rabbit and lock them all away every night at dusk, so I kinda need a solution quick like a bunny. In the long term, when the hens are moved to their new pen, I intend to install electric fencing around them, but right now I just want to kill the weasel. I think it's a summer coated ermine ... it's bigger than a mouse (ie a least weasel) but smaller than a ferret. It's probably of a size with some of the rats around here. I'm wondering if a big snap trap would get it, like it does the big rats. Does anyone know? I could put out a few baited with salmon or something tasty tonight. RDM (Weasel Hunter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I would think that a rat trap, if the bait was right, could kill it if it is small enough. Make sure you tie the trap (there's a staple in it that you can use to attach a string) so it doesn't just get caught and run. A small trap (#1 or 0 steel leghold trap) would probably be better and more sure if it was baited and set well. You can also use an appropriately-sized Havahart. Fresh meat is a good bait. Here is a link with some good ideas - http://icwdm.org/handbook/carnivor/Weasels.asp Check your local laws because trapping out of season may require a permit. Good luck! PS - Weasels can get through holes as small as an inch in diameter so your henhouse and rabbit pen need to be secure. I once had a weasel on our sliding door ledge, attracted (I think) by our house rabbit who was caged right inside that window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Given what I found on the internet, I'd guess not. Sounds like shooting, leg hold traps, or live traps are what people use. Here's a site with some good information, including how to exclude them from chicken pens. Of course they don't explain how to dispatch it once it's in a leg hold trap. Do you know anyone with a shotgun or .22 that could come looking for him? J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Would it be possible to board your critters somewhere else while you're gone? Mr. Weasel might give up, and you wouldn't be trying to figure out how to dispatch him post-haste. Email Terrierman. He might have some ideas. Ruth and Agent Gibbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted July 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I cannot imagine how one would go about "boarding" chickens, honestly. I did some more research and have discovered that a large snap trap inside a milk jug should do the trick, and that many folks have successfully caught weasels this way, so those are to be arranged today. I know how to dispatch them after they are trapped, as I used to work for an anti-trapping organization and I know what the trappers do (there is no small degree of irony in this entire scenario!). And I frankly could care less if they "in season" for trapping or not - anything that kills my livestock is going to find itself buried somewhere in the back 40 ;-) I originally joked that I was going to kill the weasel and hang its corpse on the fence as a mob-style warning to other weasels, until I read that weasels ... eat other weasels!! Damn weasels! RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrecar Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Could this be his eulogy? http://www.courses.vcu.edu/ENG200-lad/dillard.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald McCaig Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Dear Doggers, Mrs Dillard was such a good writer. Here's another by ee cummings Me up at does out of the floor quietly Stare a poisoned mouse still who alive is asking What have i done that You wouldn't have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia P Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 In Canada if they are killing your livestock it doesn't matter if it is in season or out Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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